Greece Trek
by Revriley
Summary: Riley faces alone, or with a kid, danger and adventure to find lost history/items of Greece. But when he's in serious danger of dying, will Ben be there to help? Where is Ben anyway? Was he the whole cause of this?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **Do I really have to put this? Everyone knows it...fine. I do not own them. I hope that you aren't idiots and know that.

First National Treasure fic on this site...ah...review?

Prologue

Hanging by one hand from a ledge with the width and length of a calculator over certain death, not to mention multiple injures, was _not_ my idea of 'normal', or 'fun', or 'leisure'. But considering what I've been through, "helping" find the Templar Treasure, Cibola, and _this_...maybe it could.

I really hate Ben.

Of course, my mother always told me 'hate', was a strong word, but I'm going to go 'rebel' now, and HATE Ben. It _was_ his idea. Not that he's _here_ to _SAVE_ me! No, he's probably off on a cruise with Abigail, living the fine life,

_forgetting, _or, _Not Knowing, _or _NOT CARING_, (ahem), that his friend was risking life and limb at the same time for his little treasure!

_At that same moment, Ben and Abigail were on the cruise ship History of Relaxation, eating a romantic meal, (which translates into: Discussing the history of relaxation and what it meant to America). Ben was not thinking of Riley. Neither was Abigail. In fact, the only one, or thing, that WAS thinking of Riley was...well._

Crap. My water bottle just fell, and sooner or later will be in that happy Water Bottle Paradise in the sky...that is, when it finally hit's bottom. It probably doesn't care that I'm now without nourishment.

But enough about me. While we wait for my impending doom, let's go back to the beginning of this whole adventure of...

**The Lost Scrolls of Alexandria and other stuff that was never discovered in Greece!**

Wait! Before I delve into my memories, I'd like to copyright that. No one steal my amazing title. Understood?

It all started some months ago...(Jeez. I sound like Mr. Gates. Or even worse...Ben!)

Well...review!


	2. Chapter 1

I looked up from my laptop in alarm as the front door to my apartment flew open, and then proceeded to bang my head repeatedly onto the desk -careful not to hit my laptop. It was my life out of the apartment! Well, other then the treasure hunting business, but that's more of a hobby. Ahem...back to the main story.

"Ben," I groaned, "Why did you stage an extremely dramatic scene at **4:00 AM** in the morning?"

Windswept and beaming, Ben thrust several important looking documents to my more important laptop. And there just _happened_ to be a cup of coffee right in that esteemed path. The documents hit the coffee and the coffee tipped over on both my _laptop_ and the documents.

I stared at my laptop blankly, unable to comprehend the fact that my laptop was gone. I spluttered something like "Beeeeewhheyoouddon?" Ben was mirroring my actions, and we stayed like that for several minutes, until Ben snapped out of it, and picked up the near-empty cup of coffee. I, however, was more content to sit staring at my laptop saying "Beeeeewhheyoouddon?" Ben, meanwhile, had gotten out a blow dryer, and warm the _not more important than __**my LAPTOP**_ documents. "Luckily for us, I have copies, just in case something like that hap-Riley?" Ben looked questioningly at me. Finally able to construct a coherent sentence, I exclaimed, "Ben, you killed my laptop! It's been with me for 2 months! An antique! I could have sold it on Ebay!" Ben sighed, muttering, "Kids got 50 million..." And "Look Riley, I'll buy you another one. 'Kay?" I shook my head. "Nah, I'll just build another one. You made me lose at least 90 bucks!"

Ben, who was rummaging through his bag, looked up. "You build your own laptops?" I rolled my eyes. "Duh! Ben, do you honestly think I could work well, or stand with those amateur so-called laptops?" Ben stared, "Actually...no!" I smirked, then frowned as I ran my hand over the smooth surface of my once working laptop. Ben handed me a copied document. It went something like this:

**SCIENTISTS BECOMING CLOSER TO FINDING LOST SCROLLS OF ALEXANDRIA**

_Recently, archaeologists, when working around various sites of Greece, have found various references and surviving scrolls from the Library of Alexandria, but have assumed that the rest was lost to fire and war, due to historical proof found. _

"Well?"

"...Ben...I'm not done reading yet."

"Sorry."

_But, a surprising discovery has been made. In Athens, in the ruined study of an ancient Greek house, archaeologists have found several of the Alexandrian scrolls, along with other objects, and possibly addresses. _

"Isn't that amazing Riley? For all these years, we've thought that there weren't any other surviving scrolls!"

"...Thank you for stating the obvious, Ben. Now, can I continue?"

_We are unfortunately not sure of the addresses, for when we arrived to those destinations, there weren't any ruins, or signs of human life. Archaeologists and historians are investigating still, but we now have high hopes for the _

"That, Riley, is-"

"BEN!"

"What? Aren't you done?"

"No. Promise you won't interrupt again, so I can finish."

"...'Kay."

_future._

"There!" I looked up at Ben. "But I ask you, again, why did you have to do this at 4:00 am in the morning? Couldn't it have waite-" Realization dawned at me, and my face proudly managed to show delight, wonderment, skepticism, and annoyance. If there was face-pulling in the Olympics, I definitely would have gotten the gold. Yay.

"Ben. _This_ was _not_, and I emphasize the _NOT_, important enough for me at 4:00 am in the morning. Couldn't you have inflicted this suffering upon Abigail instead? She couldn't have kicked you out of the house again, could she? Wait...if you did **this**__to her at 4:00 AM in the morning, and was your inmate, I probably would." Ben, being the overly-enthusiastic history-nut that he was, wasn't fazed, and replied, "She actually was already up...found she was looking at this article I'm showing you know, and told me to show it to you."

I was tempted to start banging my head on the desk, but being the refined, dignified person that I was, I refrained from such action, and instead drank some coffee from my specially engraved Lego mug. "Two peas in a pod, as the saying goes. Or, in your case, two history-nuts in a history-nut tree." Yeah, bad saying, but it was 4:00 – wait, wait, now 4:20 am, in the morning. Ben, meanwhile, was examining my apartment with something akin to distaste and interest. "Your desk, electronic, and book areas are the only things not cluttered. The rest is similar to a tornado's temper tantrum."

I raised my eyes. "A tornado's temper tantrum? Your attempts at coolness are failing." "What about your quip about two history-nuts in a history-nut tree?" "...Point taken."

Ben stuck out his hand, and asked, "You in?" I smiled, took his hand, promptly fell while trying to stand up, stood, and grinned. "I'm in."

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Okay...really slowish chapter, and if you have feedback, requests, questions, etc, review, and I'll try to answer.


	3. Chapter 2

Thank you, to everyone who has bothered to read, reviews, and subscribe, etc, for this story. Sorry for the slow update, as I've recently been bombarded with work recently, and so I have been very busy. Well, R&R…please…

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Of course it wouldn't be easy. Nooooo, Ben and I went for permission from the government around 3 in the morning, sign papers, all that fun stuff. Well, it was probably mostly Ben. I remember mostly yawning with my head resting on Agent Sadusky's coat, scribbling out my name whenever needed. And Sadusky pulling his coat out from under my head. And the cold, HARD, desk.

Exiting the police building around 5, I groaned. "Ben, for some reason I don't remember treasure hunting being this hard to start. I mean, no paperwork, government, nothing, whatsoever. Explanation?"

Ben chuckled ruefully. "I seem to recall that we kidnapped the president at one point, stole the declaration, and almost destroyed several important monuments. Doesn't that qualify?"

I stopped, and rose an eyebrow. "Not really."

Ben tried to raise an eyebrow, failed, and instead rolled his eyes. "Only you, Riley. Only you..."

I grinned. It had been several months since he had told me about the scrolls, and instead of a warm spring breeze ruffling my hair, it was a crisp, **cold** wind that stung my cheeks and made me wish I was back in my nice...warm...bed....

"...Riley? Were you listening to _anything_ I was saying?"

Whoops. Didn't realize Ben was still talking. But, seriously, that man could make my old Geography teacher in high school fall asleep. Or anybody, for that matter.

"Riley!"

Ben glared at me as he walked, and I did so, (but probably with an expression Ben would describe as mischievously). Unfortunately for Ben, he wasn't a master of staring contests while moving in any environment as I was, and he proceeded to trip and fall onto the pavement. I, being the true friend I was, cracked up.

Ben looked startled, as if he were Daffy Duck from that Looney Tunes cartoon, with imaginary stars circling his head. He resumed glaring at me as he stood and dusted himself off. Gasping, I managed to say, "...Ben! You should've...seen the look on your face! Man...priceless!"

Ben sighed. "At least you didn't have a camera, or a video recorder or something. That would've been really embarrassing...especially if you showed it to Abigail..."

I smirked, "Who's to say I didn't have one?"

Ben's eyes widened, and soon he was chasing me down the street, while I laughed maniacally, shouting, "Youtube, Ben! This is sooo going on Youtube!"

And somewhere, Agent Sadusky watched them, laughing softly as he shook his head. "Of course, I could put that whole thing up on Youtube, and make sure Ben's wife _and_ parents saw it..." He murmured. Then he grinned. "Or, it could 'accidentally' be shown on national TV everywhere..." Still grinning, he turned, and strolled out of the surveillance room.

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I couldn't resist the last part with Agent Sadusky...I could take it out if people don't like it. But I could only know that if people R&R, right? Please?


	4. Chapter 3

"What do you _mean_ you're not coming!?" I shouted at my cellphone, or more namely, Ben.

I was standing in the waiting area of an airport, (which shall remain nameless for the time being. I never bother to check…), and supposedly was waiting for Ben and Abigail to join me. Ben paused, and I could almost picture him grinning sheepishly on the other end. Almost. Since Ben had never assumed a sheepish presence while I was with him, I couldn't exactly picture that expression on his face. Except for the times when Abigail starts ranting, lecturing, accusing, scolding, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Then Ben assumes his, "I'm very, very afraid of you, and would like it if you stopped now, because I am likely to crumble one of these days," expression. I will never, ever bail him out of thosesituations. Yes, I will help him when he has committed a national crime, such as stealing the declaration, kidnapping the president, or almost destroying Mount Rushmore…Abigail? Yeah right.

"Ah…well…" Ben stopped to clear his throat. A fly buzzed by my ear.

"It's my wedding anniversary with Abigail, and…well. After she broke several Ming vases and a watch handed to one of my ancestors from Benjamin Franklin, not to mention a window, I realized it would be pointless to argue." Ben stopped.

I stared at my phone. Usually, I would just tease Ben endlessly if something like this happened under normal circumstances. But now…

"Ben...you're the treasure hunter. I'm not. Nobody will care that a Mr. Riley Poole is searching for the treasure. Benjamin Gates is the name they'll recognize. Although I can admit that they probably will love me when they realize how much more handsome I am, how much more intelligent, more--"

"Hey!"

I started to swat at the fly. People stared.

"Riley..." Ben started. I continued to wave my hand in the air in an effort to drive away the mosquito. The announcer's voice started. "_Flight 13, boarding for Athens, Greece. Flight 13, boarding for Athens, Greece,"_

Hurriedly Ben continued. "Riley, you're going to do great. I am jealous-"

"No duh,"

"Ahem. I am very jealous, but then, you've got the technology, historic facts...what could go wrong?"

I laughed, somewhat nervously, and gave up swatting the fly. Picking up my carry-on and laptop, I headed toward the gate.

Sure, I was nervous...but even I didn't know how wrong Ben was going to be.

_ Two Hours Into the Trip_

"Are you uncomfortable? I am. I mean, the air-conditioning is blasting, and I could never figure out how to turn it off

when I was a kid. Do you know? 'Cause if you do, tell me. I honestly have no clue. Anyway, have you been to Greece before? I have, but I was, like, 7, and trust me, I was more interested in my Star Trek action figures. I still have the collector set. Hey, do you?--Hey! Hey! Where are you going? I can show you them if you want!"

The man next to me got up quickly, moving to a row somewhere in the far back.

_5 Hours into the Trip_

"Hey, baby, what's your-"

The woman in the aisle next to me asked an attendant to "do something to that young man over there." I eagerly followed the attendant away, but as I quickly found out, the lady hadn't meant it the good way.

_9 Hours into the Trip_

I stared in disgust at the falsely named, so-called, 'food' on my tray.

"Excuse me, but is this food, or are you trying to poison us? I mean, _come on_, that looks like cardboard with sand all over it. I ordered chicken, not office material!"

At the word poison, some people stared in shock at their dinners. It took a heck of a lot of convincing from the attendants to calm the people down.

_12 Hours into the Trip_

"Hey, who's flying this thing?!"

Suddenly I found myself sitting alone in the back of the plane, with a good empty three rows glaring at me from either side.

_Departing the Plane_

For some reason, there was a mad dash to leave the plane. People avoided me fearfully, while the attendants looked relieved when I stepped off the plane. I shrugged. The people had been so busy that they had dropped a few things in their haste. I left the airport with 100 more euros than planned, a Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi figure, (whoever owned it, I am exceedingly grateful), a couple of batteries, a stack of cards, comic books, and a variety of other objects that shall go unamed. Anyway, it looked as if I was the only one that enjoyed the flight. Go figure.

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Well...yeah. Sorry it was short. I promise I'll get to the action part soon!"


	5. Chapter 4

**Sorry I haven't updated, for those who follow this story...and anyone else, of course.**

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I plopped down onto the flimsy bed of my three roomed hotel, (Bedroom, _really_ small kitchen that doesn't deserve to be called a room, and a bathroom). It was around three in the afternoon, and, although Ben had given me several names, archaeological sites, and told me to get started as soon as I arrived, I was in no mood to go to do work. Waaayy too hot, and I expressed my feelings in a dignified and sophisticated manner. "Air Conditioning!!"

"Σώπα, είμαι προσπαθούμε να κοιμηθεί!" "Shut up!" "Silenzioso!" Whoops.

***

Around Ten O'Clock the next morning, I had dragged myself out of bed, and hailed a cab. Luckily for me, since my Greek was a bit rusty, the cab driver knew good English, and we headed to Αρχαία Ελληνική Αρχαιολογικό Ερευνητικό Κέντρo, which was basically, Ancient Greek Archaeological Research Center. There, I was supposed to meet Thanos Paratholous, an expert in Ancient Greek culture. Of course, finding his office was the hard part, and after paying the cab driver, I spent twenty minutes wandering the halls.

As I entered the lobby for the sixth time, a small voice piped up from beside me. "Έχετε χάσει, κύριε?" I must have looked simple to the boy, because he repeated it in English a second after. "Are you lost, sir?" I looked down, and saw a boy by the age of nine looking up at me. I smiled, albeit nervously, and spoke, "Would you, by any chance, know where Thanos Paratholous's office is?" The boy grinned brightly, and pointed down a hallway. "Yes, he is my father! Come on, I can show you!"

The boy took off, and I ran after him, shouting at my loudest whisper, "Wait! We can...walk! Walking...is...good...although I'd prefer a cab..." The boy stopped and tilted his head, a puzzled look on his face. "A cab in here? I do not think that is a good idea..." The boy shook his head in amusement, his black curls jiggling. "Alright, we can go slower," He almost seemed to pity me as he turned forward again, deliberately walking slowly with careful strides.

***

"Ah, you must be Riley Poole!" Thanos's voice boomed heartily as he shook my hand. His son beamed from where he stood, glancing between us, as if he had never seen our faces before. "Well then, here I have a potential site that we've been very interested in, the site in which we found our first clue to the Library, you know what I mean, yes?" I nodded automatically.

"Well then, well then, we're scheduled to go there tomorrow, so get ready. I must give you some advice. Bring water, bring a notepad, bring a backpack, it's hot and dry out there, and sometimes people aren't ready for it. Let's hope you are, eh?" Thanos laughed, clapping me on the back. The blow almost sent me staggering...no...not almost...it did. I collapsed into a chair, as Thanos handed me thick files, which I took with reluctance. "These have been translated into English, so study them carefully, and don't lose them. Very important." Thanos's eyes crinkled kindly as he watched me. I guessed that my face was describing horror at the realization that I would have to stay up all night reading these. I was about to curl up in the fetal position, when Kostas eagerly put out, "Don't worry, Mr. Poole, they're really interesting. I liked reading them."

Of course, he was probably saying that to make me feel better, but instead I sagged. A kid had read them, and considered them _interesting_. What was the world coming to? "I'd better be going. Lot of reading to do." I stood, and as I walked out the door, Thanos called after me cheerfully, "Don't you worry. There's a lot more from where those came from!"

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**Sorry it's short, but I've been busy lately, and there hasn't been much time to update anything. R&R, for the sake of my sanity?**


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